The Hidden Treasure
by ARTEMIS13 MAXIMUS
Summary: The story of when two best friends become hopelessly entangled in the ridiculous antics of the Host Club. Basically follows the show, but with lots of original chapters! Kitty's POV written by Crazy Hyper Active Nyx.
1. Chapter 1

I carefully stepped off my motorcycle, neatly sliding my leg over to the other side then leaping to the ground. Dismounting a motorcycle while wearing a skirt and not accidently flashing anyone is difficult, but I had pretty much got it down. I took off my helmet and smoothed down my long brown hair, reaching just past my shoulders. Shoving the key in the pocket of my jacket I walked over to the entrance of Laser Zone, my heart already pulsing eagerly in anticipation of the playing laser tag, one of my absolute favorite games. As I went to open the door to the facility, bounding out came a short girl clutching seven blue game cards. We collided into one another, the smaller girl falling to the ground. Looking down at her I had to suppress a laugh of surprise and amusement. I knew this girl! In fact she one of my closest friends and we had just barreled into one another without even realizing! How is it that, without even planning, my old friend Kodomojimita Katherine and I manage to run into each other at a laser tag arena of all places? There must be some kind of magnetism that draws us to one another. My inner thoughts were cut short as Katherine excitedly burst out as she still sat on the ground,

"Kin! What are you doing here?" Mentally laughing at her, I reached down to lift her to her feet, once again marveling at the fact she hadn't grown an inch since 7th grade. Smiling at her excitedly, I replied,

"Oh, I'm just here to kick all these boys' butts." She grinned back up at me. Katherine knew that I thrived on competition, especially against guys, and I always wanted to win, no matter the circumstances. That tended to annoy most of my other friends, but Katherine had always thought, like me, that boy-obsession was just a little overrated and it was more fun to beat the boys then swoon over them. "So why are you here?" I asked.

"Oh Haurhi and I needed something to do. And we ran into the twins." At the mention of the twins, who Katherine had described to me in great detail, I couldn't keep down a shudder. I really didn't care for the thought of Katherine hanging around a pair of incestuous brothers whose favorite game was manipulation of others. "And apparently they had never heard of laser tagging so I _had_to bring them here to play. Oh come on I'll introduce you to them!" I chuckled lightly, same old Katherine, always light-hearted and cheery on the outside. She would never let her anger or sadness show, only to those who she trusted most or when she was truly on the brink of self-combustion. She seemed genuinely excited for me to meet these 'hosts' as she grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where 6 guys and a boyish-looking girl stood. Katherine was happily smiling as she announced to the hosts,

"Hi guys! This is my friend Takara Kin. She goes to my old school." The tall blond boy stepped towards me, sweeping back his blond hair and winking his purple eyes at me in a way that would have been totally comical had not I been completely irritated at the words that came out of his mouth,

"Hello my fair lady." I scowled, my name is NOT fair lady, and that guy better not think that I would fall for something as practiced, artificial and not to mention arrogant as that.

"Humph…You must be the idiot Tamaki that I've heard about." Tamaki gasped and sounded like he was choking; he straggled backwards, no longer trying to flirt with me, and then disappeared to a corner of the building. I turned to Haurhi next; in her jeans and t-shirt she could have been mistaken for a guy at a distance, but up close there was no doubt in my mind.

"Oh you must be Haurhi, I think those girls at your school are idiots for not realizing you're a girl. You don't have an Adams apple; all guys have an Adams apple." The twins arouse next in my gaze. I narrowed my eyes at them and shook my head, yet keeping a dangerous smile on my face,

"You two must be Hikaru and Kaoru. Listen to me you creeps, you'd better not mess with Kitty at all or I _will_ not hesitate to beat you up." I could tell that beneath their ivory skin and impassive faces the twins were silently panicking at my threat, they were obviously not used to be threatened with physical violence. Katherine, standing beside me, smiled slightly at them, she clearly realized they were afraid too. Looking down I saw a small blond headed boy, who looked up at me with wide eyes,

"Oh you're the Shorty, Mitsukuni then; Kitty seems to really like you." I couldn't help that last part, my evil side sometimes orders me to do random things and I really can't help it. Grinning at Kitty, I laughed silently as her cheeks turned bright red at my comment, confirming what I had just said. I was distracted as I saw a hugely tall figure in the corner of my vision. I looked up at a very tall guy who showed little emotion in his face.

"So…you're Takashi? Wow, you're really tall." Takashi nodded his head, his lips not even twitching to make a response. My eyes now found the last member of the host group. Kyoya. From Kitty's descriptions he was the only member of this 'host' club, aside from Haurhi, and perhaps Takashi and Mitsukuni, whom I thought actually deserving of respect. He had been slightly nice to Kitty, and besides I appreciated his calculating nature that showed a true intelligence and awareness outside of Tamaki's naiveté or the twins' perverseness.

"So you're Kyoya. Nice to meet you." Reaching out my hand I shook his hand, ignoring the shock on the faces of those around me. Behind his glasses I could see his dark eyes appraising me just as I was measuring up him. Then a voice came over the loud speaker, announcing it was time for the blue cards to go in.

"Okay guys that's us. Let's go!" exclaimed Katherine eagerly. We all filed into the briefing room and to my delight, Kyoya, Haruhi, Katherine and I were placed on one team while Mitsukuni, Takashi, Tamaki, and the twins were on the other. When we finally got onto the course we all sprinted around in the darkness for 40 minutes, shooting one another. I had an excellent time, eagerly picking off Tamaki and the twins again and again, gloating as they became increasingly frustrated. I was overjoyed when my team won, I got first on points, and Katherine was best on accuracy. We played again and there were the same results. Feeling extremely satisfied for trouncing the twins and Tamaki the narcissist, Ellie and I walked Haruhi home. Realizing that Katherine's mother wasn't home that night, I decided I shouldn't leave her alone for the night, so we went to my house to get clothes and then I slept over at her house. In the course of the night, she convinced me to come to her school, Ouran Private after school finished one day. I was excited to see her classes, and my school and her old school Ouran Public were close enough to Ouran Private to not make the journey troublesome. Besides, I was curious to see this 'Host Club' in their natural habitat.


	2. Chapter 2

After the last bell had rung on Monday afternoon I walked through the school parking lot towards my polished blue motorcycle. Suddenly, I heard my name being shouted out,

"Kin!!" Looking around wildly I tried to find the source of the voice shouting my name. Then I saw a small girl running towards me out of the throngs of people milling around the parking lot. She clearly did not belong among the casually dressed teenagers; she was wearing a bright yellow dress with a wide skirt and trimmed in frills. She looked like she belonged at a debutante ball. I knew immediately who she was, if her school uniform didn't give her away her tiny frame did. It was Katherine, arriving to take me to Ouran Private, I supposed.

"Hi Kin!" She exclaimed happily. "Good to see you! My last class ended early, so I come to get you. Though I guess it's more like I walked here and am riding back with you on your motorcycle." She grinned at me, looking as if she were almost laughing at herself. I couldn't help shaking my head at her, sometimes Katherine's childishness and antics made my head spin.

"You know you didn't need to do that Ellie." I smiled at her, using my nickname for her, which came from her middle name Eleanor.

"I know but I wanted to! And I couldn't wait to see you!" Katherine responded. She walked beside me to my motorcycle.

"Fine whatever Ellie. Here you take the helmet; I wouldn't want you to get hurt." I handed her the helmet, watching as she slid it neatly over her cropped dark hair. Even though I knew Katherine could take care of herself and trusted me not to crash my motorcycle with her on it, I didn't think I could ever forgive myself if she got hurt and it was because of me. I got on my bike and Katherine leaped on behind me, wrapping her arms around my stomach to hold on. We pulled out of the school and roared down the highway, headed for Ouran Academy. I felt a smile come uninvited to my lips; I never got weary of this feeling of the wind rushing in gusts over my body and the never-ending thrill of heading someplace fast. It didn't matter where you were going, as long as the engine was roaring and you were racing the wind to get there.

I pulled into Ouran Academy, parking the motorcycle beside the curb, trying to keep a smirk from my lips as I looked up at the spacious, lavish buildings tinted a strange shade of pink. This place looked less like an institution for learning and more like a European romantic palace. And with all the girls in yellow ball gowns swirling around the grounds I almost felt as if I had been transported to some nightmare princess ball. There was a sensation of extreme out-of-placeness rising in me, in my white t-shirt, black skirt, and thigh high leggings and black boots I clearly did not belong among these golden princesses. Ignoring any sentiment of self-pity, I turned towards Kitty, who handed my helmet back to me. Her smile of delight and eyes that were bright with adrenaline showed her true motive for coming to get me,

"You just wanted to ride on the motorcycle, didn't you?" Her grin grew slightly less wide, but she quickly recovered by saying,

"That might have been another reason. I would show you my classes, but I think that the Host Club is opening soon." Katherine snatched up my hand and pulled me through the pathways of Ouran Academy till we entered a long hall and she stopped in front of a pair of doors with a sign over them reading "The Third Music Room". She opened the door and I heard a chorus of sweetly harmonizing voices begin to say,

"Welcome," however they stopped when Katherine opened the door fully and they saw her.

"Oh, it's just Kitty," The twins spoke in unison, almost dismissing her with a glance. I saw small beads of waters gathered at the corners of Katherine's eyes and I felt anger rise in me. I did not particularly care for the twins anyway and who did they think they were to disregard my friend and ignore me?

"What do you mean, its just Kitty? I thought I told you to be nice to her!" I unleashed a malicious glare at the twins, trying to burn their flesh and bone with my gaze. I hate it when people think they can get away with hurting the emotions of others, especially someone like Katherine who would never purposefully hurt anyone else.

"C-come on Kin, can you help me cut the cake? I forgot to cut them yesterday?" Katherine's voice drew me out of my internal rant and I followed her to the kitchen where she began to carefully cut the cakes. Much as I wanted to try and steal some cake when Katherine wasn't looking, as impossible as that would be as she always catches me when I try and steal food, I decided to go talk to Kyoya. Kyoya stood to the side of the hosts, occasionally watching their antics, more often scribbling in that black notebook of his. _What does he keep in there? A running catalogue of the Host Club's foolishness? Business plans? A plot to invade Russia and use their nuclear capabilities to alienate humanity? Like that would even work anyways. Does Russia even still possess nuclear weapons after the end of the Cold War? I find it hard to believe Vladimir Putin would allow Russia to-_ my inner ramblings were halted as I arrived at where Kyoya was standing. My entire 10-second walk from the kitchen to him had allowed time for me to move in my train of thoughts from Kyoya's notebook to Vladimir Putin. Refocusing, I asked Kyoya as politely as I could muster,

"Would it be okay for me to just watch the club and not designate someone, Kyoya?" He paused in writing in his notebook and I was tempted to snatch from him and run into a corner to read it.

"That should be fine Miss. Takara." He replied formally. For some reason I thought Kyoya should address me by my first name. I had called him Kyoya, and I thought that we should be equals with one another, no one treating the other more or less. So I answered,

"Just call me Kin." I could detect a slight smile on his face and realized he was on to my stream of thinking. And he wasn't ready for us to be equals, not quite yet.

"As you wish, Miss. Kin." Even though he had been polite to me, I felt as if I had lost something, rather than gained it in that exchange. I couldn't help heaving a sigh, then returning to Katherine's side.

We walked over to sit down with Haruhi, which I was pleased with, as Haruhi was really the only other member of the host club I could tolerate. As we sat beside her the twins proclaimed,

"Let's play the 'Which one is Hikaru-kun game'!" It seemed like a ridiculous idea to me however the girls surrounding the twins began to laugh and clap like the idiot puppets the twins had manipulated them to be.

"Kin aren't those hats rather ugly?" Katherine whispered to me. The twins were both wearing large green hats.

"Yes they really are. You'd think that they would have better hats since their mother is a designer." I whispered back to her, both of us watching the twins with some disgust and some interest.

"Now then, can you tell which one of us is Hikaru?" I glanced between the twins; however I hadn't known them long enough to be able to tell between them. I could tell they were different, I just couldn't pinpoint which one was which.

"There's never been a girl who could really tell us apart before." I saw Katherine frown as they said this, and I couldn't help agreeing with her pity. As much as I didn't like the twins, to be never seen as your own separate individual with separate talents and identity seemed cruel. It was like always being seen for your shadow then for who you truly are.

Haruhi spoke for Katherine, her, and I when she said, "That's the dumbest game ever."

"Huh? Something you don't like about it?" The twins asked her, moving their attention from the fawning girls to the three of us.

"Not really. I just can't quite figure out why you two are so popular." I smiled at this comment, I was glad at least someone else in the host club realized the utter perverse ridiculousness of the twin's act.

"That's telling us." The twins replied in unison. Then one of them, Kaoru I thought said to Haruhi,

"I'm disappointed." The other one, Hikaru I thought, said,

"Apparently, Haruhi doesn't…understand the merits of having twins in the Host Club." The twins were now on both sides of Haruhi.

"Listen here. Just having a couple of good-looking homosexuals earns plenty of high points." Not able to stand it any longer I clapped my hands over Katherine's ears as they said this. She looked up at me, eyebrows slightly raised and asked coolly,

"Is this really necessary Kin?" I nodded my head firmly, replying,

"Yes, I don't want those two to ruin your perfectly good brain." It was true; I bet those girls fawning over the twins had once been completely sensible, competent, strong-willed young women until a pair of incestuous identical brothers who happened to be very bored decided to test how many young girls they could turn into absent-minded, unquestioning sheep baying with joy at every morsel of supposed stimulation the twins tossed their way. It was entertainment to them and it was making me want to wring their necks, or wring the necks of the girls who actually fell for it. Seeing my anger, Katherine said cautiously,

"Hey Kin, why don't we step out for a second, you know cool your head off." I nodded, and we walked out of the host club, sitting against the wall just outside the music room until I was diverted from my anger. Walking back in, I saw that Tamaki was holding a bright pink dress coated in frills up against Haruhi and exclaiming,

"What do you think about this?" I tried to breathe, but this image of Tamaki envisioning Haruhi dolled up in a gown like the rest of these girls was insufferable.

"What are you doing with that dress?" Mitsukuni asked.

"I'd love to see what Haruhi looks like in women's clothing." Tamaki chirped happily. I was glad to see Haruhi give Tamaki a withering glare.

"Kin, do you want to go for a walk?" Katherine asked me.

"Sure Ellie, let's go." As soon as I left the Host Club room I found the snake coiled tightly in my chest released its stranglehold on my heart and I could breathe again.

"Thanks Ellie, I really did need to escape before I knocked one of them out." Suddenly Katherine exclaimed,

"Hey! Now I can show you my classrooms! Come on!" Together we strolled happily through all of Katherine's classrooms and the incredible gardens of the school. We talked of seemingly unconnected details of our lives, spewing out everything and nothing in a way that very few who could understand. It was worth coming just to walk through Katherine's school and talk to her, see this place I constantly heard about but had never really been. When we finally returned to the host club I was completely calm and at ease and as we entered the room we found that the host club had moved on to a new antic.

"Then let's settle this with a game. If you can't pick out which one of us is Hikaru, then your penalty will be that we get to come over to your house." I understood almost instantly, the twins were betting Haruhi couldn't tell them apart in exchange for her allowing them to come to her home.

"You're Kaoru," Haruhi pointed to the right, "And you're Hikaru."

"You got it wrong!" The twins crowed. I frowned, I was pretty sure that Haruhi had gotten it right. Katherine spoke up first though,

"Why are you two lying to Haruhi?" The twins looked at her in surprise and then Haruhi said,

"Kitty is right. You're lying. I didn't get it wrong. You do look very similar, but you are different."

"How did you do that Haruhi, Kitty? Once they cover whether they part their hair on the left or the right, the difference between Hikaru and Kaoru becomes completely indistinguishable. How can the two of you tell them apart?" Asked the insipid girls sitting perched on the coaches, eagerly watching the conversation. I was tempted to roll my eyes; the twins were two separate individuals who could obviously never act in concert the entire time, which was impossible according to the law of human uniqueness. There had to be some distinguishable qualities between them or else they were clones and therefore inhuman. Haruhi spoke first,

"Uh, well, let's see… if I had to say… Hikaru's speech and actions are one level meaner then Kaoru's." Katherine nodded, and added,

"I agree with Haruhi, but I mainly use their voices to tell them apart. Hikaru's voice is a little more deep then Kaoru's." Kaoru began to suddenly laugh, telling Hikaru,

"I'm sorry, Hikaru I don't mean to laugh." Hikaru appeared almost offended, then saying dramatically,

"Well, I just don't mask anything and always express myself honestly, so Kaoru is the one who is more spiteful." Suddenly Kaoru stopped laughing.

"Don't go spinning this on me, Hikaru; I'm the one who's always going along, playing your selfish games, right?" Though the twins appeared to be getting more and more serious, I couldn't help silently laughing to myself. The whole conversation just seemed so comical and manufactured. It was as if the twins had suddenly chosen this moment to erupt into an argument,

"I may be the one to suggest them, but you're the one who really gets into them, Kaoru. If you don't like them, then just stop. What are you stupid?" At this point Katherine stopped paying attention, and I watched her for a moment. She appeared to be seriously considering the real reason why the twin's were arguing. I wondered what she would come up with…. I tuned back into the twin's fight to hear one of them say,

"That's it, we're through!" Each of them dashed out of the room thunderously, making what appeared to be a very dramatic exit. Katherine smiled at me, looking sorry that I had come on such a day,

"Hey sorry about that, normally they aren't so bad. Guess we picked a bad day, I understand if you don't come ever again." I smirked at her; did she really think she could keep me away now? I had been drawn into the peculiar society of these people and I found I was enjoying the produced drama and the smaller, subtler truths. I liked seeing Katherine, and though I wouldn't speak the words aloud, a small voice whispered in my mind that I wouldn't mind seeing Kyoya again. If only to find out some way to separate him from his notebook.

"Ellie its fine. In fact I'm excited to come tomorrow. The fighting just makes this more interesting." My statement was worth it as Katherine smiled excitedly up at me,

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow!" I walked out to the parking lot and settled back onto my motorcycle, heading back to where I didn't know. Back to home. And as I raced away from the school I felt some quiet anticipation and happiness with the knowledge that tomorrow I would be racing back again, back to the Host Club and whatever would ensue. I didn't know where the Host Club, Katherine, and I were headed, but I couldn't wait to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

After school concluded I leapt onto my motorcycle and headed out towards Ouran Private. I pulled into the school and parked quickly in the mainly empty parking lot. Tucking the key to my bike into my pocket, I realized that the small girl sitting on the curb was Katherine. She rushed over to me, crying,

"Hi Kin!! So the twins dyed their hair pink and blue, just to warn you. I actually think you would have enjoyed watching them all be idiots today. Though it's getting annoying and repetitive. I also think that this isn't a real fight. I think that the twins just want something from Haruhi, and she said no, and this is their way of getting what they want. Personally I think that they're just acting like two spoiled kids, who are throwing a temper tantrum. Though I figure that I should just let things play out, and not say anything about it. Oh sorry I'm rambling again aren't I?" As she spoke she was almost jumping up and down with excitement and her stream of consciousness seemed to be just bursting out of her mind and onto her tongue. I laughed softly as she rambled, shaking my head and smiling at her exuberance upon seeing me, and all the thoughts she had randomly chosen to share as soon as I had stepped off my motorcycle. I find that the people who you truly like never cease to amuse you. My reply was measured and calm; I didn't want to excite her further,

"Hi Ellie, just breathe and calm down. That all sounds just about right to me. Those twins are stupid enough to do that. So why are you so hyper today?"

"Oh…well normally I give half of my sugary foods to Mitsukuni at lunch, but today he got left in the cafeteria so I ate twice the amount of sugar then I normally do." Katherine replied, giggling uncontrollably, her eyes dancing. I shook my head again; today should be particularly interesting with Katherine's emotions strung out on sugar. Still I couldn't help chuckling at her sugar induced joy. Turning we walked to the Third Music Room.

Entering the room I realized that there was an absence of girls in yellow dress sipping tea and squealing. The Host Club must be closed… By this point Katherine had relaxed enough to say to me quietly,

"Oh, sorry Kin it looks like the club is closed from the fighting." In front of us the twins were launching random objects at each other and shouting incoherently. I almost choked when I saw them; this was just too much, the brothers battling like a pair of 2 year olds over a piece of candy. On top of the giant pile of stuff the twins were hurling at each other sat Mitsukuni, clutching his stuffed animal. Katherine and I remained by the door, neither of us much wanting to get sucked into the fray. Finally, a pained looking Tamaki exclaimed,

"After going this long, haven't you gotten over it yet? You brothers are putting us out!"

"We're putting you out?! We're putting you out, you say?!" demanded Hikaru. I couldn't help losing some of my mirth at that statement. As much as I didn't really like the Host Club, it was clear that these brothers were purposefully disrupting it and ruining the afternoons of everyone around them for their own personal gain. It was arrogant and unfair and I doubted that the twins were actually fighting anyways. Hikaru continued flapping his stupid lips, "You've got to be kidding! I'm the one who's put out! I'm the one who's got the same face as Kaoru. I'm sick and tired of being mistaken for you! The truth is I hate your guts!" At this I could see Katherine visibly twitch, her face darkened with rage. I was furious as well, but I knew that this wasn't the time to be hurting the twins; it would only make matters worse. I pressed my hand down on Katherine's shoulder, willing her to be calm and not attempt to hurt them. Strange as it sounds, although I get angry much more often than Katherine I am actually better at controlling my anger than her. My temper reacts so quickly on a daily basis that I have long reined it under control, showing just enough emotion but always remaining cold and calculating at my center. Katherine was almost always hiding her true emotions, holding them within her, that when they did reach a boiling point she was almost incapable of holding them back. Each of us had strong emotions; we just dealt with them in opposite ways. She kept her anger and frustrations within, meaning she always appeared collected and generally happy. It earned her many friends and people gravitated towards her in response. However, when she did exploded it was not just a wave of fire, it was an inferno. I showed my anger and frustrations, spouting them out and releasing them, meaning almost everyone saw me to be temperamental and unpredictable. But at my center I was completely cold, my inferno had been so gradually released over time that I was incapable of exploding like Katherine could.

When I tuned back into the fight and out of my internal conversation with myself Kaoru was writing on the back of curse doll. Katherine had covered her face with her hair, trying to hide her anger.

"From here on, you're going to meet with lots of misfortune and sorrow!" Kaoru exclaimed. I growled softly, this fool didn't know what he was tampering with. Katherine was almost trembling at this point, if these imbeciles didn't stop this she was going to combust and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

"Enough already!!" Haruhi, Katherine and I screamed this together, each of our voices infused with rage and impatience. Katherine and I dealt searing glares at the twins while Haruhi slapped each of them on the head. Haruhi exclaimed,

"You don't go bringing something like this into a simple fight! You are both to blame for this fight, but you're even more to blame for bringing in everyone around you with it! Now say you're sorry! If you don't make up right now, then I'll never let you come over to my house as long as I live!"

As realization shot into my mind that going to Haruhi's house was the only reason for this fight I fight Katherine sag against me as if she was going to collapse.

"Then if we do make up, Haruhi, we can come over to your house right?" The twins said in perfect unison. I covered Katherine's ears with my hands; I was not going to allow this fools to work her up into a state of uncontrollable fury.

"Oh god, you stupid twins save that for your fan-girls." I muttered to myself. I would have gone over and screamed at them myself but Katherine was more important. She was now sitting on the floor, her face haggard, looking worn to the bone. I was happy to hear Mitsukuni yelling at the twins, their reply made me clench my fists though,

"Well, we were bored."

"Twins with too much free time are the devil," proclaimed Tamaki. I rolled my eyes at the supposed king attempting to produce some kind of message from this useless escapade. The only moral I saw here was that the twins were lieing fools. The impartial part of me was moderately impressed at the lengths they would go to get what they wanted, the emotionally part of me was irritated that Katherine becoming so angry had made her fall asleep.

I returned to the host club the next day to find the twins back to their old tricks.

"Okay, let's play the 'Which one is Hikaru game'!" This was absurd; the twins had obviously changed hair color since yesterday.

"The one with the pink hair is Hikaru." One of the girls answered.

"We have a winner!" I scowled at that response; the twins were clearly trying to confuse their identities even more. They didn't want to be seen as two separate people, probably because for most of their lives they had been seen as one single identity. The twins didn't know how to be different people from one another, and they didn't seem to want to be. They liked having a world of uniquely different people separate from their world in which they were identical and only they understood one another.

"You may have made up, but your hair will still stay that way for a while, huh? Still, I'm glad it's easier to tell now." One of the girls said insipidly. Happily Haruhi put them straight,

"No it isn't. Today the pink one is Kaoru, and the blue one is Hikaru. You've swapped colors, huh?" After this statement Katherine and I couldn't resist adding in,

"Yeah they used temporary dye. Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to switch. You two should give up this lame game." We spoke in unison, smiling at each other. We had dyed our hair with the temporary dye before… though I had caused the hair dye tube to have a minor explosion, which then got on the wall…. So we haven't done it since. Haruhi then walked away, with Katherine and I following her.


	4. Chapter 4

I watched as Katherine rang the doorbell to the large mansion, eagerly waiting for someone to answer the door. I couldn't help glaring at Katherine as she stood there, instead of flinching from my glare she turned and flashed me a bright smile, saying,

"Thanks for coming Kin!" My anger couldn't help fading at Katherine's excitement; it was impossible to ever sustain any irritation at her.

"Yeah, whatever Ellie." I told her, smiling slightly, still not very willing to come into his house with Katherine. The door opened and a small boy appeared, his brown hair cropped and his sharp eyes surrounded by thin glasses.

"Who are you?" He said sharply, narrowing his gaze at Kitty and I. Katherine introduced herself, clearly forcing herself to be polite. Pointing to me she introduced me to the boy and I was tempted to roll my eyes at him. _This boy clearly doesn't care who we are and why we are here._After Kitty said that we were here for Mitsukuni and Takashi, the boy told us brusquely that he was in the kitchen; the boy didn't appear to like Mitsukuni. Kitty smiled at him once again, then walked into the mansion, heading towards what I assumed was the kitchen. I wandered behind her, continually distracted by the hallways branching off from the main corridor and the random furniture in the mansion, the empty spaces and arcing ceilings making me feel spatially confused. We arrived at the kitchen to see Mitsukuni eating an entire cake. I could not help smiling at the sight; Mitsukuni was such a fascinating character, him and Kyoya were the only ones that I enjoyed examining, the majority of the other host club member's motivations and characters could easily be identified.

"Kitty! Kin-chan! What are you two doing here?" exclaimed Mitsukuni. Katherine's head tilted and confusion covered her face. I knew that Katherine had told me that she had told Mitsukuni that she was coming over. _Maybe I can go home now…._

"I thought that I told you I was coming over yesterday…I promised to come over and make lunch some time." Katherine said, she was trying to cover her hurt and surprise but it came through in voice. However, Honey smiled charmingly and proclaimed in his squeaking falsetto voice,

"Oh I remember Kitty!" _Katherine must be pleased_, I thought. Suddenly a voice that I didn't hear very often spoke, it was Takashi,

"I'm surprised that Kin is here." Katherine and I both glanced at him in surprise that he had spoken. I signed, remembered earlier this afternoon when Katherine had pleaded with me for me to come with her to Honey's home. I generally despise going to meet people, however Katherine had convinced me by promising to make me food. I am an atrocious cook yet I generally like food, so Katherine bribes me with food, it's the only way for me to go against my strong will.

After Katherine finished explaining our system of bribery I couldn't help blushing. Mitsukuni and Takashi were giving me blank looks, and I knew what they were thinking. I truly do not seem like the type of person who takes bribes or loves food. I generally exercise though to make up for eating.

"Hey I like my food. So don't give me those looks. Besides you'd do the same things for cakes Mitsukuni." I said quickly by way of explanation, making a hurried defense. After which I went to sit on a counter in the kitchen and watch Kitty make food. She decided to make meatloaf and French fries, which ended up working quite well. Afterwards I was truly in the mood for ice cream so I said,

"That was good Ellie…why don't we all go get ice cream or something?" I knew that Katherine had wanted to bake a desert, however I thought she deserved a break from cooking for me. After ice cream, Katherine and I went back to her house, leaving Mitsukuni and Takashi. We ended up watching an American show called _Bones_. Katherine also kept me up to date on the doings of the Host Club; I hadn't come in a week since I was busy with schoolwork. I ended up spending the night at Katherine's house, as I didn't want to leave her alone since her mom was out again. We finally drifted off to sleep late at night, ultimately pleased with our day.


	5. Chapter 5

I pulled my motorcycle up to the curb in Ouran Academy's parking lot. _Yet again there are no cars here… I could probably park my bike in any spot and no one would care since all the silly rich children are driven to school._I was drawn out of my thoughts as I spotted Katherine sitting on the sidewalk. I hopped off my motorcycle and removing my helmet, shook out my long brown hair which fell down to rest on my shoulders. Katherine rose and exclaimed,

"Hi Kin! So for some reason the Host Club is closed today…they wouldn't tell me why though….so would you like to come back to my house? Haruhi decided to study for a little before going home." I watched as Katherine's face changed from confusion and annoyance as she remarked on the Host Club being closed to hopeful anticipation at the thought of us hanging out at her house. I frowned, my mind working quickly. It wasn't like Kyoya to close the club and ruin profits for an afternoon, unless there was an alternative event that he either endorsed or could not prevent. And that meant one of Tamaki's ridiculous plans. I had quite enough of his antics to want to be sucked into them again. I replied,

"Sure Ellie, though I know they closed for a reason. And we need to get out of here before we find out that reason. Actually we can go to my house; I have a new motorcycle to work on." Katherine looked slightly perplexed by my odd statement, but she quickly recovered and said,

"Yeah that's fine Kin, let's go!" I held out a helmet for Katherine when suddenly my nightmare materialized in human form. Or human forms. The twins seemingly appeared from nowhere and each one clapped their hands on my arms, standing behind me and pining my hands behind my back. Mitsukuni and Takashi also appeared and Mitsukuni grabbed Katherine, I couldn't help being momentarily amused as she blushed when Mitsukuni held her arm.

"Targets," said one of the twins, the other finished the sentence, "captured." I stared at them vacantly, wavering between fury that they were holding my arms back and wonderment at why in the hell they had grabbed me. A black limo pulled up the in the student parking lot, the window opened and Tamaki appeared, a pair of sunglasses concealing his eyes. A growl rose in my throat, of course that was who was behind these latest shenanigans. Tamaki said approvingly,

"Good, take them with you." The limo sped away out of the student parking lot. Now that it had been partially revealed to me what was going on, it was really time to teach these twins that I don't like been grabbed and held forcibly. Also, that Katherine and I have no intention of being kidnapped on the idiot Tamaki's orders. I spat out a warning at them,

"Listen here you stupid twins, we aren't going to go anywhere with you." The twins grinned inanely at my threat and replied,

"Yes you are coming with us." I felt my eye twitch slightly, and anger gained control of my body. I had warned them, but they had tested my limit too far. Leaning back on their arms I flipped backwards, spinning out of their grasp, my momentum yanking my arms out of their grip. Landing, I knocked each twin over the head with my fists; they sank to the ground, sitting confusedly. They weren't bleeding however and I knew that they would be fine in a moment. I didn't want to hurt them too badly as their rabid fan girls would probably attempt to murder me and I don't really like seeing blood. I took advantage of their moment of dazed confusion to say rapidly,

"Never, NEVER grab me again, I don't like being touched, and especially not by a pair of twin fools. And don't ever think that you can just make Ellie or I bow to your will, you have absolutely no control or power over either of us and we make our own choices. If you have some reason why we should go with you tell me, but don't you dare try and kidnap us again." The twins flinched briefly and then one of them answered me,

"Don't get all worked up, we were only kidnapping you to bring you and Kitty on a surprise host club trip with us. Tamaki thought it would be more fun this way, but he obviously didn't realize that some girls don't like being grabbed and kidnapped." I bit down another tirade on the fact that I didn't know ANY girls that would ever have 'fun' being kidnapped, and only someone completely arrogant and delusional would actually think a girl would have fun having some boy grab her and take her away. Instead I replied,

"Tamaki. Is. An. Idiot." The twins shrugged and answered in unison,

"We know."

"And where exactly are we going?"

"To a tropical resort and spa owned by Kyoya's family."

Turning away from the twins I saw that Mitsukuni had let go of Katherine. I figured that it would probably be best to not make another scene and go on the trip with them. Besides, Katherine might have fun and I might even have fun as well, so I told her,

"Come on Ellie. We're going to wait by their limo." Katherine looked at me in shock. Standing by the twins' limo, the twins left and in 15 minutes returned, dragging Haurhi with them. While we waited I told Katherine about the 'surprise trip,' not mentioning where we were going. I wanted it to be something of a surprise for Katherine. Seeing us, Haruhi looked exceedingly befuddled.

"It's a trip," Katherine told Haruhi, smiling happily. The twins and she entered the limo and Katherine put on the helmet I had given her and climbed on the bike behind me, holding me tightly so she wouldn't fall. Revving the engine, Katherine and I rode off; I followed the twins' limo to the spa, uncertain of what to expect when we arrived there.

LATER ON

Katherine and I followed the twins, who were eagerly dragging Haruhi to a women's changing room. When they arrived they pushed forward Haruhi and Katherine, ordered a pair of twin maids,

"Okay, take care of them." I assumed they wanted the maids to do something to me as well, however I suspected they were afraid of grabbing me again. I glared at the twins, and was then distracted as the maids replied,

"Very well." _Oh god, the twins have maids that are also twins and that also speak in unison? Creepy rich people…._

"Miss Fujioka, Miss Kodomojimita, Miss Takara. Right this way." Despite their completely freaky manner of speaking, like they were about to hit Kitty, Haruhi, and I over the head with a tiki statue and drag us off into the jungle to be killed by ax murderers, I was pretty sure I knew why we were here. This was a changing room, and the maids were here to help us change into something. And given that we were at an obscenely large water park and the twins would kill to see any portion of Haruhi's skin, I would guess that they would be helping us change into bathing suits. Damn twins. Apparently Haruhi had not reached the same conclusion I had since she shouted,

"W-wait! Why?!" The twins latched their hands onto Haruhi and Katherine and pulled them into the changing room. I shot a last withering glare at the twins and then followed them in. I had no intention of putting on a bathing suit but I also didn't want Haruhi and Katherine to end up in there alone with the creepy twin maids. In the changing room the maids undressed Haruhi, but didn't do so to Katherine and I as we were both giving them looks that clearly said: _Try and undress us and something very, very bad will happen_. Haruhi was shrieking,

"Just a minute, just a minute!"

"We have been asked to help you three choose a swimsuit." My glare darkened, I did not want to put a swimsuit on._I don't want to swim here; I only like to swim in the ocean. Besides if I put some frilly swimsuit on my ability to intimidate the twins and frighten Tamaki will be ruined._

"We brought all of this year's latest that our mom designed. You can choose whichever one you want." Kaoru told us through the door. I watched as Katherine looked through the racks of swimsuits and realized that there was only one that could fit her, a fairly cute white bikini. Katherine left to change and the maids said,

"Okay Miss Fujioka and Miss Takara, please select one."

"Thanks but I don't need a swimsuit." Haruhi said politely. I settled for glared at them while growling,

"I'm not wearing any of these." In response the maids handed me a dark blue tank top and some jean shorts. I guess they figured it would be useless reasoning with me. Happy to wear what they gave me I stepped into the dressing room and changed out of my white skirt, black jacket, black skirt and gray leggings, which I was glad to get rid of as it wasn't really a resort outfit anyways. I half-listened as the maids offered Haruhi different swimsuits and she basically descended into complete panic. When I left the dressing room Haruhi walked in. She ended up wearing a strange dress-like swimsuit with a swim cap. Haruhi walked out of the changing room to be confronted by Tamaki, whose entire face was flushed deep red. He handed her a yellow parka and after Haruhi questioned him said,

"Girls should only show off that much skin after they get married." I rolled my eyes, did he not realize that Katherine and I were standing right there, displaying plenty of skin? It was obvious he didn't truly believe that, and was only attempting to prevent Haruhi from displaying her body to the other boys. Haruhi put the parka on however, so I decided not to start yelling at Tamaki for being sexist. Haruhi, Katherine and I walked to the pool where we were soon joined by the boys. It was a strange little group, all sitting there beside the pool in the sunshine.


	6. Chapter 6

Katherine and I sat by the pool, sipping a random fruity drink. Katherine was listening to a conversation between Tamaki and Haruhi however I was lost in my own thoughts. _I wonder which tropical island they based this park on. Or did they just take different stereotypical features of so-called 'tropical paradises' and merge them in this resort? The drinks, the birds, the jungle scenery, the crystal water, it all seems a little too manufactured to me to actually be enjoyable. Besides I would take a real place in the tropics with real people over this product any day._My ramblings ended when I heard Kyoya's voice. I tuned back into the conversation to hear him say,

"This is a theme park that my family, the Ootori Group runs, it's called 'Tropical Aqua Garden.'" I turned away from Kyoya as Katherine began to choke on her drink, coughing. I set down my glass and asked her softly,

"Are you okay Ellie?"

"Y-yeah Kin, I just had a funny thought is all." Haruhi knitted her brows and asked,

"But Kyoya, didn't you say that your family ran a hospital, or did some kind of medical therapy work? Kyoya glanced coolly at her and said in even measured tones as if reciting a well-memorized speech,

"Well, it's a diversified enterprise that does lots of things, because you could say that this place is related to therapy." _Really? Between nearly being kidnapped to go here, dealing with the twin perverts and trying to prevent myself from being thrown into some ridiculous bathing suit, I'm not really feeling that relaxed._"There are many who suffer from stress, or from feeling cooped-up who would like to spend time in the south tropics" _So is that what they are basing this place on? Interesting…_"but for economic reasons or lack of time, are unable to go. This is a convalescent theme park, to help treat those people. The Ootori Group is always thinking of the happiness of others." If I had been drinking something when Kyoya said that I would have probably choked on it, I believe that the Ootori Group has the greatest concern for their profit margins, however I doubt if a massive corporation is really the benevolent charity they make themselves out to be. I was getting better at reading Kyoya's voice tones, for he'll say anything as if he's being completely serious however be thinking something else entirely. When he spoke the words 'the Ootori Group is always thinking of the happiness of others' his voice was slightly ironic and laughing. Translation? He is repeating a company catchphrase which he knows to be at least a little untrue. If not utterly incorrect. Tamaki spoke now,

"It doesn't open until next month, but the Host Club has it reserved today on a special advance invitation. It is so relaxing. There aren't any guests here that we have to serve either. It truly is a handsome young warrior's holiday, I guess you could call it." Again, had I been drinking something, I would have choked. I watched and half listened as Mitsukuni spoke to Kitty and Haruhi. He really is quite the little charmer, so outwardly sweet it's almost sickening. I returned to the conversation in time to hear one of the twins say,

"Then again, what's with the pullover?" Both Katherine and I laughed softly at this, recalling Tamaki's display of 'fatherly affection' at the changing room. Or just plain weirdness.

"So you're not going swimming?" Said the other twin, Hikaru I think.

"By any chance, can you not swim?" chimed in the other one.

"I can swim as well as the next guy, but I'm just not very interested in this place, and I'd rather just go home than goof around here swimming. What's so great about this overblown facility, anyways?" I nodded in agreement, seeing in my mind's eye roaring, crashing waves beaten down by a sea breeze scented with salt and sand. My kind of paradise.

"A vinyl pool should be all you need for playing in the water." declared Haruhi.

"What's a vinyl pool?" asked the twins. I signed, these poor deprived children. I watched as Haruhi attempted to describe a vinyl pool to the twins.

"Dummy, that's called an air boat." I glared at the twins, just because they hadn't encountered something in their wealth-defined, sheltered life did not mean it did not exist. "There's no way something that small could be used as a pool."

"It is a pool. Little kids play in them a lot, you know?" Katherine nodded and said,

"Yeah the two of us used to play in those as kids. I actually still manage to fit in them." I stared blankly at Katherine, telling her with my look that she really didn't need to say that, everyone could tell she was tiny. Tamaki then decided now was the opportune time to open his mouth,

"You idiots, if Haruhi and the other two think it's a pool, then let them think it's a pool. Don't go embarrassing Haruhi. She only has a pitiful commoner's knowledge." At this comment my anger exploded and I leapt up to try and get some sense into Tamaki's head. Katherine threw her arms around my waist and held me back though, preventing me from charging at Tamaki. With anyone else I would have made them let me go, but I could never bring myself to hurt Katherine, even though sometimes I couldn't help giving her a playful tap if she was being particularly annoying. Katherine said to Haruhi,

"We know what you're talking about, they're the idiots here. They think that because they have money they know everything…Then again Kyoya just might know everything. If you want I can let go of Kin, but then Tamaki and the twins just might die." I scowled at them, smirking slightly as Tamaki and the twins shuddered at the thought. They were also shooting perplexed looks at Katherine; she really doesn't look like the kind of person who could hold a girl like me back with ease. She is deceptively strong however, at least on a level with me, though we have two different types of strength. I was proud of Katherine as well for recognizing the flaws of the rich, to think I despised her at first because I assumed she was another spoiled wealthy brat. Hikaru changed the subject however,

"Never mind that, there's something that's bothering me." Kaoru finished his statement,

"Yeah boss, why did you make Haruhi wear that pullover?"

"I thought for sure you'd be all 'I want to see Haruhi in a swimsuit!" _Oh god, I know where this conversation is going. And Katherine does not need to hear any more about sexist men or perverted men._Twisting in Katherine's grip to face her I clapped my hands over her ears. She looked at me vacantly, eyebrows slightly raised before saying in slight exasperation,

"Is this needed Kin? I am the same age as you; actually I'm almost nine months older than you." I frowned; I always seem to forget that Katherine is older than me; sometimes I tend to forget given that she acts childish and has childish fears. I replied defensively,

"Yes, I don't want those twins having type of influence over you, and so what, you act younger than me." I couldn't help sticking out my tongue at her after that statement, despite the fact that it was exactly the kind of childish act that made me seem younger. Realizing that it was slightly useless to hold my hands over her ears I let go and Katherine released her grip from my waist. As we did so Tamaki was just finishing saying,

"-it's not right for a girl to expose her skin openly in front of boys." _And since when have you been the ethics' police, Tamaki?_ Mitsukuni then exclaimed to Haruhi,

"Haru-chan! Let's go play! They have a current pool over there."

"No, I'm not swimming today. Why don't you ask Kitty?"

"Kitty, do you want to go play in the current pool with me?" Kitty replied happily,

"Yes! I love current pools!" As she went to run off I snatched her arm and pulled her back, saying sternly,

"Not so fast Ellie. There's still ten minutes until you can go swimming. You ate earlier remember?" I knew Katherine was trying to escape with Mitsukuni but I really didn't want to have her collapse in the current pool, which would probably mean I would have to jump in and save her. Katherine told Mitsukuni sweetly,

"Sorry, maybe in a little bit then." Looking at the floatation device Mitsukuni had around his waist Haruhi asked,

"Huh? Honey-sempai, you do know how to swim, right?" He nodded and exclaimed,

"Just looks cuter this way."

"He's so innocent," signed the twins. I smiled to myself, _Mitsukuni isn't all that innocent, from the beginning I have thought his character extends much deeper than simple childness and innocence._ Suddenly the infamous Renge emerged from behind the earth, screeching something in her high pitched voice. _I do not want to be around to listen to this girl shriek at us. Time to go bother Kyoya…_ Looking over to the opposite side of the pool I saw Kyoya etching down notes carefully in his little black book. I wandered over there, picking up my drink and musing over what he could be writing in there. _More plans for world control? Meaningless doodles? God, its driving me crazy! I just imagine that for someone with his knowledge and mind his writings would be particularly interesting…_I ended up standing before Kyoya. He paused briefly in his writings to glance up at me, his dark eyes meeting mine own for a quick moment, then he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked back down at his notebook, saying evenly,

"Hello Miss. Kin." I flopped down in the chair next to him and replied,

"Hey Kyoya. This is quite a place your family runs here." A small smile appeared on his lips and he looked up from his writing again.

"Quite. Are you enjoying it?" I craned my neck towards him slowly, attempting to decipher the tight handwriting in the notebook. _For someone so meticulous his handwriting is quite messy. Odd. I wonder if this notebook is the only place he feels he can be flawed in his execution of something._ I answered Kyoya slowly, my eyes narrowing as I tried to make out the writing,

"I'm enjoying more the people around me than the facility. I perceive artificial creations of another land or culture to be just that, artificial. People would benefit their health more by spending more time with their family or exploring their local town than coming to a place like this." Kyoya moved his head to look at me square on, his eyes scrutinizing me, trying to guess the meaning behind my words. I stared back at him, challenging his gaze with my own. The moment was broken as Kyoya's eyes flicked to behind me and I turned to see Tamaki looking at me, then the twins who turned to each other and nodded. Seeing Katherine I remembered that she could go swimming now since 10 minutes had passed and I didn't want to keep her from having fun with Mitsukuni. I waved at her, indicating she could get in the water, and she stood and leapt into the current pool with Takashi and Mitsukuni. Kyoya chuckled from behind me and said,

"Tamaki and the twins were discussing the fact that it's alright for you to show skin because you frighten them. I can read lips, it's a skill I picked up from sitting in the corner at dinner events watching my father discuss deals with other business men." _Funny, Katherine was just telling me she is getting the ability to read lips. Speaking of Katherine…_ I glanced over to see her swimming next to Mitsukuni and couldn't help shouting out,

"Be careful Ellie! The current is strong there!" I took advantage of Kyoya's glance at Katherine when I said that to peer at his notebook again. It was useless; I could read nothing of his spidery, thin handwriting. I sat back disappointed and watched in amusement as the twins and Tamaki began a water gun fight. I was just getting up to join them when Kyoya spoke,

"As to what you said earlier, Miss. Kin, I agree with your fundamental point but I think you'll find that the average citizen would rather relax in a mechanized park then spend time with their family and their community."

"So you acknowledge that this park is designed for the profit of the Ootori Group, not the genuine happiness of the population?" Kyoya shrugged and his gaze hardened, his voice growing deeper,

"You know what I said earlier was a company line. The Ootori Group is not a charity Miss. Kin, to expect it to be would be naïve." I scowled, and opened my mouth to reply when suddenly a great rushing of water reached my ears. Turning I saw a massive wave, a sheer wall of water moving across the current pool towards Mitsukuni and Katherine. Katherine stood in shock and then slipped beneath the water, Mitsukuni diving down after her. As her body was sucked down into the darkness under the wave my mind leapt into panic and I jumped to my feet and began to sprint towards the current pool, my heart drumming widely. As I ran I could dully hear in the back of my head Kyoya shouting my name,

"Kin!"

"Ellie!" I screamed as I neared the water, I was so close, if I could just make it then I could get them both out. Which was when Takashi, who was running close behind me slipped on a banana peel and was hurled forward straight into me. His body collided into my back and my feet were swept out from under me, my back aching with pain as Takashi's shoulder slammed into it. We crashed to the ground together, Takashi at the last moment gripped my waist and pulled me atop of him, so he landed first on the ground and I landed safely on his body. Detangling my limbs from his, I rose, bile choking my throat as I looked into the now calm waters for a sign of Katherine. She was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

"Mori-sempai…Kin…" the sound of Haruhi's voice broke me out of my haze of shock and anger. _Katherine…gone? Just like that, but how? Where is she? I have to find her!_Tamaki announced grandly,

"Guys, we're going after Honey-sempai and Kitty-sempai!" I turned to fuel my rage at him by shouting furiously,

"You'd better be able to find them! This is your fault, for inviting us on this ridiculous trip in the first place!" Tamaki flinched and then declared,

"The pool is the shortest way, charge!"

"What that way is…" Kyoya exclaimed, however everyone had already sprinted after Tamaki in the direction of the pool, screaming excitedly. I paused and asked,

"What Kyoya?" He shrugged, standing by the current pool with his arms crossed casually and replied impishly,

"They'll discover for themselves in a moment." I frowned, wondering what he could possible mean when I heard Tamaki and the twins scream,

"There are alligators swimming there!" From behind them I could see a group of impossibly large, hideous alligators, lazily snapping their jaws at Tamaki and the twins. I stepped back instinctively, even though the alligators weren't chasing them back to where Kyoya and I stood. _I thought they were trying to model this park after the South tropics, and I don't believe alligators are native to that part of the world…wait, shut up internal thoughts, lets focus on getting Ellie back and then you can babble about alligators_. Kyoya and I watched in irritated silence as Tamaki stopped for a moment then screamed again,

"Okay, the pool is out. Let's take this route!" He gestured widely and the entire group sprinted off again, I didn't even bother to follow them, this was becoming completely pointless. If I hadn't been so worried I would have been laughing hysterically at the sight of Tamaki running rampantly around the park dodging alligators as the twins exclaimed,

"They're here, too!" The twins dashed back out of the section of the park they had just been in, to be rejoined by Haruhi as she shrieked,

"And here, too!" The entire group ended up standing back with us, all of them panting as Kyoya looked on impassively and I attempted to burn Tamaki's flesh off with my glare.

"Why are there alligators, here?" Haruhi asked in bewilderment.

"Beats me." Tamaki replied. Kyoya titled his head slightly, considering, and then responded,

"Those pools are the tropical animal area. I guess it is dangerous to let the alligators run loose. Although, it's the current pool's switch location that's the problem here," as he spoke he skimmed the pages of his notebook with his eyes, his voice clinical and unfeeling, "I'll have to speak to the designers. I have to thank you. I've gotten some good data here."

"You what?" Everyone exclaimed, besides Mori, Kyoya and I. Instead I burst out in amazement,

"I knew it! You didn't agree to this just because of Tamaki's powers of persuasion, you had something to gain from this whole trip! This wasn't some exclusive pre-opening access by the Host Club to this theme park, but a test run in order to ensure that this park would make real profits when it opens to the people who actually pay. And that's what you've been writing in that notebook the whole time, data to repeat back to your engineers and accountants?" My sense of injustice was almost throttling me, my voice dropped lower and I could hear some of the Hosts gasp as I said quietly, threateningly to Kyoya, "And Ellie and Honey-sempai were part of your test run, and it went wrong, and they could be hurt out there. But hey, as long as it's not someone who is actually paying you, because the only people you care about are the ones you profit from, then I guess everything's ok."

Kyoya stared back at me blankly, his face betraying no trace of emotion. Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought in his eyes I could read something like guilt. My tone grew even sharper and more commanding, "You know everything there is to know about this place Kyoya, you can be the one to lead us in our search for Ellie and Honey-sempai." I paused, bit my tongue, and then forced out the words, "Please Kyoya, please." The Hosts gasped again and I was tempted to stick out my tongue at all of them. They were acting like we were on some kind of soap opera.

Kyoya nodded briefly, his eyes meeting mine for a split moment and then he dropped his gaze and said,

"There was no need for that Miss. Kin. I would have helped you out anyways." I shrugged and a small sad smile caught my lips.

"Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't have. I wanted to yell at you anyways." He looked at me sharply and then walking away led the Host Club to a map pasted up to a board on the side of the walkway. Pointing he said,

"This is Tropical Aqua Garden's area map. This is our present location. To get to this point, where I predict Honey-sempai and hopefully, Kitty-sempai got carried away to, we will need to go through the jungle area in the southern block. That's a range of about 800 meters." Haruhi gestured to a number of blank areas on the map,

"There seem to be a lot of indeterminate areas in this jungle along our way."

"Those zones are still under development." Hikaru shuddered and said,

"There could be things in there even more dangerous…"

"…than alligators." finished Kaoru. Tamaki struck another pose and declared,

"All right, this is a survival mission! We have to safely penetrate this jungle area, and rescue both Honey-sempai and Kitty-sempai!"

The entire group and I headed into the densest area of the park, where the trees were winding and tall, vines draped down to the earth, and shadows fell thickly across the path. Animals made strange calls to one another across the forest and I walked along, clenching and unclenching my fists, wondering where Katherine was. Tamaki remarked,

"This has all but become a real jungle in here." Haruhi nodded and commented,

"I've been hearing lots of strange animal calls."

"You don't think that those animal sounds," said Hikaru,

"…could be the real thing, right?" finished Kaoru. Kyoya replied, his tone slightly ironic,

"I'm not too sure. In all of the work we do, we tend to strive for authenticity whatever the cost." I could feel Kyoya's eyes on my back as he said that, and I knew he was expecting me to make some clever response. I couldn't though, now that we were in the jungle with shadows swarming around us I could barely think of anything else but just imagine Katherine, alone and frightened and harmed, and me not there. _She better not be alone, Katherine can't be alone, she would have a complete breakdown. Wait, Mitsukuni grabbed her at the last second, hopefully he's with her. He had better be with her. _My thoughts were broken as for the second time that day Mori-sempai slipped on a banana peel and went colliding into me. We had been standing in the front of the pack together, each of us watching the forest for Katherine or Honey and now we collided, crashing to the forest floor, limbs flailing. Mori-sempai once again pulled me on top of him so he landed first and I was unhurt. If Takashi had landed on me and crushed me to the ground I would have had a minor implosion. Instead him and I lay there briefly, neither of us thinking it worth moving. Tamaki and Haruhi came over to help me to my feet and Hikaru commented,

"Mori-sempai…"

"…is acting about as clumsy as you, boss. And why does he keep crashing into Kin?" Kaoru finished. Takashi shrugged and muttered,

"I'm not trying to. Sorry Kin." I nodded and replied, not even sure of what I was saying,

"Its fine." Suddenly a shroud of dark clouds drew tightly over the canopy of trees, concealing the sky in a sheer wall of black thunder clouds.

"Whoops, it must be squall time." Kyoya remarked, and the group hurried over to a wooden pavilion built beneath the trees to wait out the rain. I sat just outside the pavilion, cross-legged on the ground, my face turned upwards to the sky. Within moments the clouds shattered and rain rushed to meet the earth, drenching me in a complete curtain of water. Droplets broke against my forehead and rolled across my body, soaking my hair in an instant, seeking into my lips, my skin, my clothing. I drew in a deep gasp of air and released, the tension escaping my body and pouring itself into the earth to join the rushing water. For a few moments I couldn't even breath, only taste the falling rain and feel as if I was part of it, just escaping this world and changing it for another one. I stood and entered the covered pavilion, combing my fingers through my soaking hair, my eyes bright and my mind cleared and focused. As I walked in I ignored the strange looks I was receiving from the Hosts for sitting out in the rain and listened as Haruhi said,

"Mori-sempai is awfully close to Honey-sempai, isn't he? And Kin, you're really close to with Kitty, right? Are they childhood friends or something?" I leaned on the edge of the wooden wall that surrounded the pavilion and preoccupied myself with smoothing out my long, tangled hair, listening to the conversation.

"You mean you don't know?" Hikaru said incredulously.

"Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai are cousins," declared Kaoru. I raised my eyebrows slightly, thinking _Really? I guess it makes sense considering how well they know one another. So that means that one of each of their parents are brother or sister. _"Though we don't know much about Kitty-sempai and Kin…" _Oh goodness, am I going to have to try and explain the relationship between Ellie and me? _Luckily, Haruhi said in surprise,

"Huh? They're relatives?" Kyoya chimed in next, eager to share some of his endless wealth of knowledge,

"The Morinozuka's have been serving the Haninozuka family for generations." My eyes widened slightly in surprise, Honey and Mori were master and servant? I chuckled slightly, trying to imagine the mild-mannered, eager to please Honey ever ordering the strong and silent Mori around. Hikaru continued the story,

"Although, two generations ago, they became relatives by marriage, and the families' master-servant relationship has long since faded away." Kaoru continued, a hopelessly romantic look on his face,

"Even so, Mori-sempai has always accompanied Honey-sempai." Tamaki concluded the story, gazing happily at Mori-sempai, who was looking at out the rain, his mind obviously on Honey and not on what these fools were saying, "It must get his blood going, the blood of the vassals of yore, which flows through Mori-sempai." I scowled at this ridiculous statement, which was a complete fantasy. _Can these fools actually believe that those 'vassals' were born to be servants? That they take some pleasure out of fulfilling their place in life by serving the rich, who delude themselves into thinking that by making these people their servants they are fulfilling some divine order? Fools. _

"What a great story!" exclaimed the twins as once, "I'm touched!"

"That's what you call a great story?" said Haruhi, scowling. I nodded in agreement, absent mindedly figuring my hair, picking apart the brown threads.

"Hey what about you Kin?" Hikaru asked, making everyone's gaze in the pavilion settle on me. My fingers froze on my wet hair, and I swept it behind my shoulder, looking the twins in the eyes and answering,

"What about me?" Hikaru signed and elaborated,

"What about you and Kitty-sempai?" Kaoru finished the statement,

"The two of you are close, but why?" I signed and flicked my eyes upwards to the top of the pavilion, trying to decide how to answer that question without giving away anything about myself that I didn't want to give. My skin was prickling from having all the eyes of the Hosts on me. I said,

"Well, without going into detail, we have been friends for a long time. Ellie is the type of person who puts others before herself; she doesn't really take care of herself." I looked down now, looking back into my memories, "So I take care of her…somebody has to…her father is often away on business, and her mother is almost always at the bakery…" My voice trailed off. Haruhi titled her head slightly as she looked at me, then asked,

"I've also been wondering, Kin why do you call Kitty Ellie?" I grinned at that memory, replying,

"Oh, well everyone always called her Kate. She always hated it and so I call her Ellie, which comes from her middle name, which is Elenora." The Hosts smiled at me slightly and nodded. Haruhi then stepped forward and declared to both me and Mori-sempai,

"Mori-sempai, Kin-sempai, it'll be all right. I'm sure that Honey-sempai is safe. He's tougher than you might think, and if he gets hungry, there are a lot of bananas in the trees. Also, Honey-sempai would help Kitty-sempai out." I smiled, some of my anxiety lessened by Haruhi's statement. _She's right; if Honey is with Ellie he'll make sure that she's ok. And even though I keep forgetting, Ellie is a lot tougher than she looks too. _The twins twisted to look at the both of us and said in unison,

"Hey now…" Tamaki completed their words,

"How are they going to respond to that?"

"Yeah," Mori muttered shortly, his eyes flicking to focus on Haruhi.

"Thank you Haruhi," I said with all the warmth I could muster while still being incredibly worried. Tamaki ruined my moment though by stuttering,

"D-don't tell me Mori-sempai is out for my spot as Haruhi's daddy, too!" I rolled my eyes, _Who ever told him that he was Haruhi's daddy? Oh right, he told himself…_

"No, nobody is after that," Hikaru uttered teasingly,

"Not that silly in-law position." Kaoru joined with his twin in teasing Tamaki. They joined to tease him but I shifted my focus to Kyoya, who had whipped out his cell phone and was holding it to his ear.

"Hello it's me," Kyoya said sharply. He listened into his phone then said, "Oh, we've got a somewhat troubling situation…" He turned away to speak on his phone and the sound of the rain drowned out anything I could hear of his conversation. Kyoya closed his phone and turned back to us to say,

"My family's private police force is going to look for Honey-sempai and Kitty-sempai in the jungle. We should probably head back towards the main complex." I narrowed my eyes at him and said pointedly,

"I'm not leaving till I see that Honey and Ellie are completely safe." Mori-sempai walked over to stand beside me and he said,

"I'm not leaving either." Kyoya shrugged and replied coolly, clearly not pleased with what we had said,

"As you wish Miss. Kin, Takashi." I glanced up Mori-sempai and he nodded down at me once, together we turned and left the pavilion, the rain had ceased a few moments ago. We walked back onto the path together and Takashi paused for a moment, and then began to walk in the opposite direction of where Kyoya had predicted Honey and Kitty would be. I stopped and peered into the forest, trying to determine where she would be. I found that my instinct, my senses all pointed to where Takashi had already begun to walk, in the opposite direction of Kyoya's prediction. I darted over to where Mori-sempai was, following him down the pathway. From behind us I heard Haruhi call out,

"Mori-sempai, Kin-sempai, it's not that way. Honey-sempai and Kitty-sempai are in the other direction." Mori and I continued to walk, calling back to Haruhi,

"No they're this way!" Haruhi exclaimed at us,

"Just a minute! It's too dangerous for just the two of you to go! I'm coming with you two!" Takashi, Haruhi, and I headed into the thick of the jungle. I am a fairly athletic person so I leapt over the felled trees and moved through the dense forest with ease. I flicked the bugs away from my face and focused on moving through the tangled brambles and hanging vines of the jungle. While Mori and I moved with ease, Haruhi was stumbling and shrieking behind us. Mori and I both stopped and glanced at each other. I rolled my eyes and muttered,

"She should have stayed behind." Mori-sempai nodded slightly, then turned and said,

"Haruhi…" He picked her up and held her in his arms as he moved through the forest. _Hmmm… I wonder if he would have picked me up with I was having issues. Probably, but then again I'm not having trouble and I don't really want some guy to carry me so I'm good. _Takashi, Haruhi, and I emerged into a clearing surrounded by a thicket of woods. As we entered the clearing Takashi froze in front of me, I moved around him and my jaw dropped. There was a group of heavily armed men standing in the clearing, all of them wearing black armor and flap jackets, helmets concealing their faces. Their weapons were trained on us. I gasped; it was like a tiny army in the woods was facing us. _Wait; is this…Kyoya's family's private police force? Oh great._

"Target confirmed," said one of the policemen. Another one shouted into a walkie-talkie.

"The target has been captured by a suspicious man and woman." I looked at us, what in the hell were these people talking about? Then I figured it out, they thought that Haruhi was a little boy, Honey I guess? And I and Takashi were his kidnappers. "Now taking subject into custody." The man gestured his weapon at Takashi and bellowed, "You there! Let the boy go, or we will resort to using force!" My heart pounded, my hands clenched into fists. _Who do these ridiculous policemen think they are? _Haruhi said in a panicked voice,

"Oh hold on!" Suddenly one of the policemen attempted to snatch Haruhi out of Takashi's arms. He growled deep in his throat and he violently struck the man, who went flying through the air away from him and Haruhi. The policemen moved towards me and I moved back towards Takashi, preparing myself to fight. The policeman shouted,

"The man is resisting! Ready to fire warning shots!" I gasped, that wasn't fair! Suddenly a familiar voice sounded through the air,

"Takashi, Haru-chan, Kin, move!" I looked up to see Honey, gripping a vine and swinging through the air from the trees into the clearing. I leapt to the side and watched as Honey smashed in one of the policemen's helmets with his fist and then released the vine. I smiled slightly, moderately impressed as Honey flipped in the air and landed neatly on his feet, a thunderous look transforming his face into an expression I had never seen.

"What do you think you're doing, pipsqueak?" shouted one of the men, turning to point his gun at Honey.

"No matter, get this one too!" A policeman said, and Honey then hurled himself at the soldier and threw him to the ground. One by one the policemen charged Honey and Honey beat them silly, and then deposited them on the forest floor. I watched Honey, wanting to join in the fight but knowing I wasn't really needed with Honey around. Soon I became slightly bored, wanting Honey to get this over with so I could go find Katherine. _Speaking of Ellie_, I began to glance around the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of her somewhere. I saw a flash of color in the canopy of one of the trees, but didn't look at it directly. If it was Katherine I would know soon enough. Honey finished and declared,

"Don't go being so reckless. Picking on my friends is a no-no." Around Honey lay sprawled all the policemen, each of them bruised and beaten with their bodies twitching. I was grateful to see none of them were openly bleeding. For a moment we stood like that, Takashi and I quietly watching Honey as Haruhi stood gasping, completely astounded that Honey was so powerful. Then Tamaki, the twins, and Kyoya burst into the clearing, running towards us. Tamaki exclaimed in fear,

"Haruhi! Haruhi, are you all right?" I laughed slightly; he didn't even ask if Takashi or I were ok? Then, given the fact that both Takashi and I were pretty tough individuals he probably didn't need to. Honey turned towards us and said,

"Hey it's Tama-chan!" The twins paused and Hikaru said,

"Oh wow…" Kaoru completed the sentence,

"Honey-sempai! You okay sempai?"

"Haruhi!" Tamaki shouted again, and running over wrapped his arms around her, "I was so worried about you." The twins kneeled down to prod the bodies of two of the comatose policemen, Hikaru remarked,

"Not sure what happened here, but they seem okay, they're alive." Kaoru nodded and answered,

"Well, Honey-sempai was the one who did this, right? Then he must have been holding back." Haruhi gasped once again and asked,

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" The twins tilted their heads and replied,

"Huh? You don't know? The Haninozukas have been famous for their martial arts for generations. They're instructed not just the police and the SDF, but overseas military forces as well." Kyoya calmly finished the statement,

"In particular, Honey-sempai has been called the dreadnaught of the Haninozuka family, for as long as it's been around, and by the time he was in middle school, he was the national champion in both karate and judo." Honey released an adorable smile in response to that statement. Tamaki then spoke,

"Incidentally, Mori-sempai also became the national champion in kendo, when he was in middle school." For a moment we all stood in silence. Then Haruhi asked,

"Hey where's Kitty-sempai? We though she would be with you Honey-sempai…" Honey looked around in confusion and answered,

"I don't know, she was with me a few minutes ago…" I looked up to where I had seen the flash in the tree, and sure enough Katherine was perched on a tree branch, looking down with the wild smile on her face. _She's been there, wondering when we would notice her gone._ Normally I would have let her have her fun, but it was time for her to come back to us.

"She's in the tree. She's been there I whole time." I said calmly, fixing my eyes to Katherine's. Katherine stood upon the tree branch, balancing her small frame with ease. Tamaki shouted up to her not to jump, that they would come get her. I smiled to myself; did they really think that would work? Katherine made a small leap off the branch and curled her body into a flip, landing smoothly on her feet. She looked at me and complained,

"Kin…you just had to ruin my fun, didn't you?" She stuck her tongue out at me and muttered, "I still have no clue how you do that…" I smirked in response, I knew she was thinking of the fact I can always know where she is.

"H-how did you d-do that?" stuttered Tamaki at Katherine. I knew if Katherine answered she would have begun to ramble about her childhood and her dancing, so instead I said sharply,

"Don't be stupid Tamaki. Kin is a dancer and she has the best reflexes I've ever seen."

"Hey Honey-sempai, Kitty-sempai, how did you guys find us?" asked the twins.

"It wasn't hard," replied Honey, "It didn't take us long to reach the end of the current pool, so we decided to go looking for everyone." The policemen began to prostate themselves in front of Honey and apologize to the 'great Haninozuka Mitsukuni'; however I paid them no attention as I was once again lost in my thoughts. _Why weren't the police men looking for Kitty as well, and why didn't Kyoya let them know that Takashi and I were out in the jungle? Is this some kind of revenge Kyoya is taking on me for refusing to stay behind while the police men were out looking? Does this go back to me yelling at Kyoya about him using us to take down test data? Or was I not Kyoya's target at all? Was he in fact testing whether Takashi could take care of Honey as well as he believes? I don't know; it's impossible to guess Kyoya's motives because Honey ended this fight before it had even begun._ When I tuned back into reality Honey was patting Takashi on his head and saying,

"Takashi, you did very well protecting Haru-chan. You didn't get lonesome without me around right?" I smiled, that sounded like something Katherine would say to me…

As we walked back to the main complex Hikaru commented,

"You know, maybe next time we should go the beach…"

"…the beach would be nice." I smiled and I could feel my face light up, the beach meant the ocean and I loved the ocean. Tamaki said dismissively,

"You idiots, Haruhi wouldn't be interested in that." Haruhi challenged his statement,

"I might not mind going to the beach. This obviously artificial location may not be any fun, but the beach would be nice. It's pretty there."

"Also Kin and I love the beach! It's calm and relaxing there…" chimed in Katherine happily. Tamaki declared,

"All right, you got it! Next, we go the beach!" Honey, perched on Takashi's shoulders, spoke to Takashi happily,

"We're all going to the beach next. That will be fun, huh?" Takashi looked up and replied simply,

"Yeah." Katherine giggled as she watched Takashi and Honey. Looking up at me she said,

"That would be fun and exciting wouldn't it, Kin?" I smiled softly down at Katherine, glad to have her back at my side, and replied,

"Yeah Ellie, that'd be awesome."

We all went home after that, and I slept over at Katherine's house once more as her mother was out at the bakery.


	8. Chapter 8

I pulled up my bike sharply to the curb in Ouran High's student parking lot. My thoughts were in complete turmoil, raging unhappily within my head, wanting to spew themselves out. _I cannot believe that my parents are making me go. I don't care if I have to go to keep up appearances or some such nonsense. My parents are lawyers, not wealthy fools and I see no reason why I have to socialize with a group of spoiled, selfish brats at some ridiculous event the money for which could probably have a thousand other more useful uses. I mean, I socialize with the Host Club, but that's different! I hate rich parties! _My gaze shifted to Kitty, who seeing the expression on my face said,

"Hey Kin! I was wondering if your parents were making you go, also." I didn't have to ask to know what she was speaking of. Katherine's parents were throwing a formal party at their second home, a mansion that night, and my parents were requiring me to go.

"Yes…and I don't want to go…" I told Katherine unhappily. She answered me,

"At least you're not alone. So my mom wants me to get a new dress, somehow I've managed to tear up all the dresses I own running around in them, and I also haven't gotten a new dress in years. So do you want to go dress shopping with me? I promised to go buy you books after, courtesy of my parents of course." I frowned, debating in my mind whether having to go through the horrible agony of trying on dresses was worth getting more wonderful, wonderful books. _I have been dieing to finally get my hands on that new translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, its supposed to be fascinating, but it's so expensive and my parents spend enough money on my books already…but dress shopping? With shiny, slippery fabrics and actual human interaction with creepy salespeople, I don't think I can stomach it. But books…_

"Well…I do need a new dress also. And I still get the books right?" I said quickly. Katherine smiled, knowing she had successfully used her knowledge of my love of books to get me to come with her.

"Yes, you get to buy as many books as you want, though there are shoes too…" I couldn't help sighing at that statement. By this point Katherine and I were in the Music Room where the Host Club hosted their activities, Katherine had wanted to say goodbye to Honey and Mori-sempai.

"Sure Ellie, as long as I get the books I'll go dress shopping with you." Just as I had gotten my temper, which had been fluctuating madly ever since my parents told me, under control, the twins appeared. Hikaru and Kaoru said in unison,

"What's this we hear about dress shopping?" I scowled darkly; these twins were testing me on the wrong day. Curling my fingers into a fist I hit each of them on the head and said sharply,

"None of your damn business you annoying twins." Katherine grabbed my hand and gripped it tightly, saying to the twins,

"I just came to ask Haruhi something and to say goodbye to Mitsukuni and Takashi. Come on Kin." She towed me away from the twins and over to Haruhi. I attempted to pull my hand free from her grip however it was proving useless. I wanted to go and yell at the twins and perhaps keep myself from combusting with anger but I was too frazzled to concentrate on working my hand loose so Katherine was holding me with ease. Katherine was oblivious to my attempts to escape, instead saying to Haruhi,

"Hey Haruhi, can I ask you something?"

"Sure?" Haruhi's face looked completely bewildered and slightly frightened as she watched me desperately try and make Katherine let go of me as Katherine realized for the first time I had been trying to get away.

"Oh…don't mind Kin, I think she just wants to go kill the twins." _Yes, and you won't let me go Ellie! Please, let me go kill the twins! _"Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come to my father's party tomorrow. I would have asked earlier, but my mommy didn't tell me until today. I could give you a dress to borrow, not one of mine, but a dress." _For God's sake, stop rambling Katherine! It's making the anger inside of me more frenzied! _"So can you come, you could spend the night at the mansion tonight with Kin and I if you'd like?"

"Mansion?" I could understand Haruhi's confusion. Katherine's parents owned two homes locally, one for day to day living, and one for parties and maintaining the appearance of traditional wealthy living.

"Oh…it's for parties…"

"Yeah…I guess that would be fine. I don't have any plans for tonight or tomorrow, and I already finished my homework. Though I don't have a clue where your mansion is…"

"Kin and I could come get you after we go shopping, don't ask about that…and then I could say hi to your dad again! Okay, so we will come get you in three or four hours I guess." Haruhi nodded and Katherine turned and left the Host Club, pulling me behind her.

After several hours more than I could bear we finally finished shopping and left the mall. Katherine purchased a beautiful strapless red and white gown. The gown was perfect for her, it fit her small frame nicely and the red complemented her dark hair. She, in truth, looked like a fairy tale princess and I suspect that she felt like one too. She only enjoys these parties a little more than I do, but she does love to dress up. She also got and a pair of red heels to match. Katherine adored heels, they made her appear taller and made people believe she was older. I despised heels, Katherine had once taught me how to dance in heels, however every time I could, I avoided wearing them. All sense of coordination I possess immediately leaves me as soon as I step into a pair of heels. Despite this, I bought a pair of gold heels to match my golden gown. It was actually quite pretty, almost worth spending a number of torturous hours looking through miles and miles of satin and lace as irritating salespeople prod at you and ask about your personal life. The gown was a pure golden color and feel to my ankles; however in the front it was short and layered with strips of gold cloth.

We ended up even buying a dress for Haruhi; Katherine could not resist it when we discovered a silver-white evening gown and a pair of white heels that would look so elegant on Haruhi. I was pleased because we had found something that actually fit Haruhi's quiet and sensible personality, nothing like those ridiculous pink dresses the Hosts are always throwing her into. We headed back to the mansion, picking up Haruhi on the way. That night we watched a few random movies each of us had selected and generally had a great night together hanging out, waiting for the ball the next day.


End file.
